Blink!
by Brainiac5
Summary: AU, Exo-Force, reverse-boycott fic. -So what's new?- Ryo may be the champ at 3d chess, but how does he fare when faced with a game based on his greatest weakness?


**Blink!: An Exo-Force Story  
**

Ryo walked down the hallway, trying to decide who his next 3d chess opponent would be. He hadn't squashed Hikaru in awhile, so maybe he'd ask him. Besides, Ha-Ya-To was never much of a challenge, and Takeshi always knocked the pieces over in a fit of rage before Ryo could ever achieve his conquering move. The only _real_ opponents were a few of the other engineers, but they didn't like games so much. Ryo shook his head, smiling. _But chess… it's really more of a battle strategy game. It's good to keep your mind active. And when you need a break…Well, it's better than staring at Battle Machine schematics until your eyes fall out._

Grinning, Ryo pushed open the recreation center's double doors, glanced around and froze. Rolling his eyes at the shouts of three top Exo-Force Pilots screeching over a simple card game, Ryo moved closer. They were all rapidly slapping down cards-- it looked like a mixed up game of slapjack, but no one was slapping… and there were three piles. He stood and watched from a distance.

Then Hikaru jumped up, pumping his fists in the air. "Oh yeah! I'm out!" He shouted, dancing in a circle. "Hah! I told you I was the champ, Takeshi! Oh yeah!"

Ryo walked over. "Hey, anyone up to a game of three-dimensional chess? How about you, Hikaru?" Ryo smiled innocently. "I might even go easy on you."

Hikaru glanced up at Ryo. "Sure," he said, agreeing far too quickly. There was going to be a catch. "But first," Hikaru said, smirking in the purple-haired techie's direction, "You have to play Blink with us."

Ryo frowned, wondering if they'd made the game up. No, if that had been the case, the rules would probably entail the phrase 'Hikaru must win every time', or something like that. "Blink?" he asked, intrigued. Who would name a game something like that?

"Blink. This card game." Hikaru explained, plopping back into his chair and kicking one out for Ryo to sit on. "It looks like a little kid game, but it tests reflexes and recognition skills. And…" Hikaru smirked, "I'm the residing champ."

Takeshi snorted. "Yeah, since yesterday," he muttered.

"Yesterday?" Ryo asked, confused.

"When we pulled it out to try it," Ha-Ya-To explained. "That was after Hikaru beat Takeshi at 3d chess, and Takeshi thought he could win at--"

Takeshi smothered the rest of Ha-Ya-To's explanation by clapping a hand over the red-haired pilot's mouth. "I still kick butt at checkers," He snapped.

Ryo shrugged. "Sure, I'll play… I guess. How does the game work?"

"Well, you deal the cards," Hikaru said, making two piles quickly. "And then you each flip over your top card…" He turned to Ha-Ya-To. "Mind playing an example game?" He asked.

Ha-Ya-To shook his head. "No prob," He said.

Both pilots put their top cards in the middle of the table, a few inches apart from the other. "Now," Hikaru said, "Draw three cards… and look for similarities. Ooh! Green flowers!" and he slapped down a card.

Ryo watched in amazement as the two boys both slapped down cards on whichever pile the cards could apply to, until Hikaru flipped one of his cards onto a pile which didn't look compatible to Ryo.

"Wait a second," He exclaimed. "What's with the lightning bolts on top of the flowers?"

"They're both that awkward brown color that no one really knows the name of," Ha-Ya-To said.

"Oh," Ryo said quietly. "So you match color or shape, or number. It can be any of those three or a combination?"

"Yup. And whenever you get rid of a card, draw a new one," Hikaru said. "Got it?"

Ryo made a face, then sat down. "I guess so," He murmured, looking slightly worried…

* * *

"Ryo! What is your problem?!" Hikaru demanded. "That's _blue_, not _green!_"

Sorry!" Ryo apologized, pulling the card off the pile. "I mixed up for a second there," He said, slapping three moons on top of three flowers.

The play continued for awhile, then…

"Ryo, play those flowers! Their green matches those green lightning bolts!" Ha-Ya-To cried. "You've had that card just sitting there forever! What, did you forget it was playable?"

"Maybe!" Ryo shot back, slapping it down.

"Yes!" Hikaru exclaimed, throwing down his last card. "I win! How many you got left?" He asked Ryo.

"Twenty-one," Ryo mumbled.

"Oh. That's okay, it takes a little getting used to," Hikaru said. "Want to play again?"

"No," Ryo muttered, "I want to play three dimensional chess."

"Two more games," Hikaru pleaded, "And I promise not to forfeit the chess game after only eight turns, like I did last time."

Ryo frowned, staring back at Hikaru with disgust for a long moment, then agreed. "Fine. But _only_ two more games."

"Right," Hikaru affirmed, dealing the cards again.

* * *

"Ryo, those yellow moons can go on his yellow stars!" Takeshi snapped. "Get your head in the game, already!"

"I know!" Ryo snapped, slapping down the moons and then three flowers.

"You have those brown flowers that can go on his brown moons," Ha-Ya-To suggested.

"Okay, okay!" Ryo cried, throwing down another card.

"I win again! The reigning champion!" Hikaru crowed. "How many left over this time, Ryo?"

"Twenty," Ryo sighed.

"Well, you're certainly improving rapidly," Takeshi snorted.

"Can we play chess now?" Ryo asked, sounding exasperated.

"One more game, Ryo. You promised." Hikaru replied accusingly, waving a finger in the techie's face.

"Fine," Ryo snapped. "Hand me the cards, I'll deal."

While Hikaru slapped down card after card, Ryo frantically tried to keep up, managing to fit in a card here or there. Once Hikaru had creamed Ryo at the end of their third game, he couldn't help gloating. "Ha!" He cackled. "The genius Ryo can't even match little shapes and colors! That's hilarious!!"

Ryo stood up suddenly, knocking his chair over. "It's not funny, Hikaru," he hissed, eyes smoldering.

"I never said it was funny," Hikaru replied, grinning cheekily. "I said it was _hilarious!!_"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ryo shouted, turning and storming out of the rec. center. "Just leave me alone!"

Hikaru's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the Exo-Force engineer stalk into the hallway, slamming the door on his way out. "Maybe I should go tell Sensei that Ryo needs a talking-to," he muttered, glancing at Takeshi. "I mean, I was just teasing him. Couldn't he see that? It was just a joke."

Takeshi shrugged. "Well, I don't know what he thought, so… maybe you should just ask Sensei Keiken."

Ha-Ya-To cleared his throat. "You were being a little obnoxious, though."

"So his bad attitude is contagious!" Hikaru snapped. "He was acting like a jerk the whole time!"

"That's true," Ha-Ya-To admitted. "Maybe you should talk to Sensei about it. It could be that he's just been having engineering troubles lately, or something. Do you think a Battle Machine broke? That would really make him grumpy."

Hikaru shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I'll ask Sensei, like you suggested," he said, standing and heading in the direction of Sensei Keiken's quarters.

* * *

"And I was just teasing him-- harmless joking-- when he blows up at me! It's like, he can dish it out but he can't take it-- losing, I mean." Hikaru said. "And it's not like he'd ever played Blink before anyway! It was only his third time playing. I mean sure, he only got rid of ten cards and I got rid of thirty, but still… he shouldn't be so hard on himself," the blue-haired pilot explained, pacing.

Sensei Keiken nodded slightly. "What game did you say it was?"

"Um, it's called Blink," Hikaru said. "It's kind of a matching game."

"What do you match?" Sensei Keiken asked with detached interest.

"Well, shapes, numbers, colors…"

"Ah," Sensei Keiken said, sitting up and suddenly appearing far more intrigued than moments earlier.

"Wait, 'ah'? 'Ah' what?" Hikaru demanded, folding his arms.

Sensei Keiken sighed, shaking his head. "Ryo wouldn't want you to know this --he didn't want to get teased, you see. He's very sensitive."

"No kidding," Hikaru muttered.

Sensei Keiken shook his head, sighing. "But I really don't have much of a choice at this time. Hikaru, don't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, do you understand?"

The Exo-Force pilot nodded seriously. What kind of secret could be so… secretive? "I won't tell anyone," Hikaru promised.

"Good," Sensei Keiken murmured, turning to face the pilot. "You see, Hikaru, Ryo… is color blind."

Hikaru's eyes widened. "What? Ryo? Color blind?"

"Yes," Sensei Keiken said frostily. "Now, if I were you, I think I'd owe him an apology, don't you agree?"

"Yeah," Hikaru murmured. _Color blind!_

"After all, Ryo was willing to play a game that put him at a distinct disadvantage," Sensei Keiken pointed out, his words digging into Hikaru like barbs. "The least you could do is apologize for putting him in an uncomfortable situation."

"But I didn't know!" Hikaru exploded, glaring at Sensei Keiken.

"You could have guessed from his hesitation that he didn't want to play," Sensei Keiken chided, shaking his head. "Your selfish need to be victorious caused far more harm than good. That's how it will always be. Selfishness will never be rewarded, Hikaru."

"I… I know," The pilot muttered, staring at his feet.

"Remember that," Sensei Keiken told him, turning to glance at the door. "A wise man once said that we should do nothing out of selfish ambition, we shouldn't do anything out of vain conceit. Instead, in _humility_ --not pride or selfishness-- everyone is to treat others as though they are more important than themselves." Sensei Keiken gave Hikaru a look. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Hikaru nodded. "Yes sir," he mumbled.

"Good," Sensei Keiken smiled. "You know what to do."

* * *

"Hey, uh, Ryo?" Hikaru said slowly, poking his head into the third lab, glancing around for the techie. "I… um, well, I wanted to apologize for making fun of you. It was obnoxious, I'm sorry. Are you in there?"

"Oh. Hey Hikaru!" Ryo chirped brightly from behind him. "What are you looking for?"

Hikaru spun around, whacking his head on the door. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, grabbing his head.

"Careful," Ryo chided. "Sorry I scared you," he added.

"I wasn't scared, I was… startled," Hikaru mumbled.

"Oh, okay," Ryo said, smiling. "So, why were you looking in there?"

"Um, I was trying to find you," Hikaru said. "See--"

"Oh yeah. Sorry for blowing up back at the rec. center. I lost my cool," Ryo apologized, not giving him a chance to finish.

"No, what I'm trying to say is--"

"You still owe me a game of three dimensional chess," Ryo grinned, backing up a step, glancing in the direction of the rec. center.

Hikaru frowned. "Ryo, listen--"

"Come on, no more stalling! It's my turn to stomp you at a game." Ryo replied, laughing and turning to head down the hall.

"But Ryo--" Hikaru tried again.

"Oh, and I call the black pieces! Did you know that black isn't actually a color, but the absolute absence of color, while white is every color in the visual spectrum?" Ryo added, starting to walk away.

Hikaru sighed, following him. "No, but--"

"Or did you know that because of the way your brain works, the color green is actually every color _except_ green? It's quite fascinating, wouldn't you agree?" Ryo continued, interrupting the blue-haired pilot yet again.

Hikaru continued to attempt an apology, following the techie all the way to the rec. center. However, regardless of how many times he tried, Hikaru remained unable to get a word in edgewise. All throughout the chess game, Ryo babbled incessantly, grinning and blowing Hikaru's pieces from the board into everlasting oblivion.

_Maybe… just maybe, this is his way of saying 'I forgive you',_ Hikaru thought as he stared at the hopeless situation his rook was in, smiling. _Thanks, Ryo. _

* * *

A/N: This is a completely seperate fic from any of my other Exo-Force ones... totally AU. I don't want Ryo to actually be color-blind in my stories, because I'd have to go back and erase all color related comments, or at least ones in the green-blue or orange-red-yellow area... And then I'd have to figure out other synonyms for the Exo-Force pilots. I couldn't say 'blue-haired' Hikaru, or 'Green Haired' Takeshi. It would be too stressful. but hey, if someone wants to piggyback my idea, more power too ya! (Yeah, I'm still asking for peoples to join my reverse-boycott... GO TO LEGO's WEBSITE!! READ UP ON EXO-FORCE! WRITE A FIC!!...eh, please?)


End file.
